U.S. patent number 6,058,435 [Application Number 08/794,356] was granted by the patent office on 2000-05-02 for apparatus and methods for responding to multimedia communications based on content analysis.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Siemens Information and Communications Networks, Inc.. Invention is credited to Neal J. King, Michael Sassin, Naser Sheikhzadegan.
United States Patent |
6,058,435 |
Sassin , et al. |
May 2, 2000 |
Apparatus and methods for responding to multimedia communications
based on content analysis
Abstract
A routing method for an information distribution system, such as
an automatic communications distribution system, allows substantial
content freedom in the formulation of a message to the system. The
messages are converted to a computer-searchable format and are
subjected to content analysis to identify skills advantageous to
responding to the messages. In one application, the incoming
message is a facsimile transmission that is converted to
computer-generated text information using an optical character
recognition module. The freeform incoming message may also be a
voice mail message converted using speech recognition techniques,
or may be a video transmission, electronic mail or a Webpage
referral. In an application of the method and system that includes
a response from an agent of the system, resume data indicative of
proficiencies of the agents with respect to skills advantageous to
processing the communications are correlated with the identified
desired skills for a particular incoming communication. Based upon
the correlation, the incoming communication is routed to the
appropriate agent.
Inventors: |
Sassin; Michael (San Jose,
CA), King; Neal J. (Oakland, CA), Sheikhzadegan;
Naser (San Jose, CA) |
Assignee: |
Siemens Information and
Communications Networks, Inc. (Boca Raton, FL)
|
Family
ID: |
25162415 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/794,356 |
Filed: |
February 4, 1997 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
719/331;
379/265.12 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M
3/51 (20130101); H04M 3/5233 (20130101); H04M
3/533 (20130101); H04M 7/12 (20130101); H04M
2201/60 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04M
3/523 (20060101); H04M 3/50 (20060101); H04M
3/51 (20060101); H04M 3/533 (20060101); H04M
7/12 (20060101); G06F 013/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;709/305
;379/265,266,210,211,220,212,221 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Stuart Warren "Speech Rec Rules", Computer Telephony, pp. 79-89,
Jun. 1996..
|
Primary Examiner: Meky; Moustafa M.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A routing method for distributing communications to a plurality
of individuals comprising steps of:
storing resume data indicative of proficiencies of said individuals
with respect to skills advantageous to processing said
communications;
enabling reception of incoming communications having substantial
content freedom;
formatting original message content of each of said incoming
communications in a program-searchable format;
searching said original message content of each formatted incoming
communications to determine which skills are advantageous to
processing said incoming communications; and
at least partially based upon correlations between said stored
resume data and said determined skills advantageous to processing
said incoming communications, routing said incoming communications
to said individuals on a one-by-one basis.
2. The routing method of claim 1 wherein said step of formatting
said original message content of each incoming communication
includes generating text information of a message submitted in said
incoming communication.
3. The routing method of claim 2 wherein said step of searching
said original message content includes executing a word query of
said text information.
4. The routing method of claim 3 wherein said step of executing
said word query is a Boolean word search.
5. The routing method of claim 1 further comprising a step of
receiving said incoming communications in a form of telephonically
recorded voice messages, said step of formatting original message
content of said incoming communications including generating
computer-generated text information representative of said voice
messages.
6. The routing method of claim 1 further comprising a step of
receiving said incoming communications in a form of text messages
transmitted via a computer network.
7. The routing method of claim 6 wherein said step of receiving
text messages is a step that includes at least one of receiving
electronic mail and receiving text messages originating from a site
of the World Wide Web.
8. The routing method of claim 1 further comprising a step of
receiving said incoming communications in a form of a facsimile
message, said step of formatting original message content of said
incoming communications
including utilizing optical character recognition techniques.
9. The routing method of claim 1 further comprising a step of
receiving said incoming communications in a form of video
transmissions, said step of formatting original message content of
said incoming communications including utilizing image analysis to
generate descriptors in response to recognizing image features of
said video transmissions.
10. The routing method of claim 9 further comprising a step of
associating a video transmission from a submitting party with at
least one non-video incoming communication from said submitting
party such that said combination is used in said determining which
skills are advantageous.
11. The routing method of claim 1 wherein said step of storing
resume data is a step of identifying proficiencies of automatic
call distribution (ACD) with respect to different call-handling
requirements.
12. A routing method for an information distribution system
comprising steps of:
receiving an incoming communication having significant freedom of
message content, said incoming communication being from a
submitting party;
converting original message content of said incoming communication
to a computer-searchable format;
executing content analysis of said original message content in said
computer-searchable format, including searching said original
message content of said incoming communication for a specific
subiect;
based upon said content analysis, determining criteria for
conveying desired information responsive to said incoming
communication;
based upon said determined criteria, selecting a connectivity
option among a plurality of connectivity options; and
establishing a connection with said submitting party in accordance
with said selected connectivity option.
13. The routing method of claim 12 wherein said step of converting
said original message content to a computer-searchable format
includes generating computer text information and wherein said step
of executing content analysis includes implementing a word search
of said computer text information.
14. The routing method of claim 13 wherein said step of executing
content analysis includes a Boolean word search.
15. The routing method of claim 12 wherein said step of receiving
said incoming communication is a step of receiving a message at an
automatic call distribution (ACD) system, said step of selecting
said connectivity option being a selection of an ACD agent having
pre-established skills advantageous to handling said message.
16. The routing method of claim 12 wherein said step of receiving
said incoming communication includes receiving a voice message and
wherein said step of converting said original message content
includes using speech recognition to convert said voice message to
computer-searchable text information.
17. The routing method of claim 12 wherein said step of receiving
said incoming communication includes receiving one of an electronic
mail message or a message transmitted via a site on the World Wide
Web.
18. The routing method of claim 12 wherein said step of receiving
said incoming communication includes receiving a facsimile
transmittal and wherein said step of converting said message
includes generating computer text information using optical
character recognition techniques.
19. The routing method of claim 12 wherein said step of receiving
said incoming communication includes receiving video information
and wherein said step of converting said original message content
includes generating descriptors using image analysis to recognize
features within said video information.
20. A routing system for distributing communications to ACD agents
comprising:
memory means for storing resume data indicative of proficiencies of
each of said ACD agents with respect to skills advantageous to
processing calls;
means for receiving incoming communications having substantial
freedom of content;
means, connected to said receiving means, for formatting original
message content of said incoming communications in a
computer-searchable format;
content analysis means, connected to said formatting means, for
searching said formatted original message content of said incoming
communications for keywords indicative of skills advantageous to
processing said incoming communications; and
correlation means for selecting among said ACD agents to handle
said incoming communications in response to correlations between
skills of said ACD agents as indicated within said stored resume
data and skills advantageous to processing said incoming
communications.
21. The routing system of claim 20 wherein said means for receiving
incoming communications includes a voice message recorder, said
formatting means including a speech recognition device.
22. The routing system of claim 20 wherein said means for receiving
incoming communications includes a network connection for receiving
at least one of electronic mail and transmissions from a site on
the World Wide Web.
23. The routing system of claim 20 wherein said means for receiving
incoming communications includes a facsimile machine, said
formatting means including an optical character recognition
device.
24. The routing system of claim 20 wherein said means for
formatting said original message content includes an image analyzer
responsive to a video transmission received by said means for
receiving incoming communications.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to systems and methods for
automatically analyzing the content of multimedia communications
and responding to the communications based on their content. More
particularly, incoming communications are routed for response based
upon a correlation between the content of the communication and
certain parameters of a set of connectivity options.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The present invention can be implemented in a wide variety of
systems in which the response to a communication can advantageously
depend on the content of the communication. A simple example of
such a system is an information retrieval service, in which the
service receives a communication from a customer requesting certain
information, and the service responds by sending the requested
information to the customer. The present invention can be used to
implement such systems. The preferred embodiment of the present
invention is described in connection with a call center.
Call centers are organizations set up by companies or individuals
to handle large volumes of telephone-based business transactions.
Call centers provide an efficient alternative to performing
business transactions in a face-to-face manner. For example, rather
than renting a commercial space in a shopping area in order to sell
merchandise to the general public, a company may mail out catalogs
which advertise the merchandise and a telephone number that can be
used to order the merchandise.
There are many organizational styles for call centers. Typically,
the necessary telecommunications equipment includes an automatic
call distribution (ACD) system that provides call management. The
system may be physically located on the premises of the company or
may be on the premises of a central service provider, such as a
regional telephone company. The ACD agents may all be employees of
the company or may be employees of a business enterprise that
provides call-handling services to a number of unrelated companies.
Conventionally, ACD agents are located at offices, but
telecommuting agents are utilized as well. In addition to the sale
of retail merchandise, call centers and ACD systems are used for
such applications as product support to provide information
regarding products of a company, brokerage call management in the
sale of stocks and bonds, and utility customer service call
management for handling questions regarding service and
billing.
In its simplest form, the incoming calls have little variation and
can be handled equally well by any of the ACD agents. The selection
of an agent to handle the next incoming call may then take a
longest-idle-agent approach, which directs the calls based upon the
idle times of the agents. However, in many call center
environments, the agents are not equally adept at performing all
types of transactions. For example, in a product support facility,
different agents may be responsible for handling calls regarding
different classes of products, e.g., a first group is knowledgeable
with respect to a word processing program, a second group is
knowledgeable with respect to a database program, and a third group
is knowledgeable with respect to a spreadsheet program. Even within
a specific group, there may be a need for individuals to possess
different call-handling skills, e.g., agents within the same group
who speak different languages. "Specialists" within the call center
are important if the center is to have a sufficiently high level of
transactional throughput without training all of the agents to be
knowledgeable in all areas.
Thus, while the traditional call routing approach works well for
environments in which all agents are equally well qualified and all
of the calls are similar, the approach may be inadequate in other
applications. Siemens Corp. has developed a skills-based routing
approach for such applications. A call is routed to one of the
agents based upon a correlation of the attributes of the agent with
identified skills that are advantageous to efficiently processing
the call. That is, for each call that is to be distributed, skills
that are relevant to efficient handling of the call are identified
and then used to route the call to an appropriate agent. Stored
"resumes" of the agents quantify how well the agents are qualified
with respect to meeting different requirements of calls. For
example, a skills expression of a particular agent may identify a
skill level from 0 to 9 for each of 250 different skills. The
skills-based routing may also consider preferences of the system
for particular agents handling particular types of calls. For
example, if a number of agents possess SKILL A and SKILL B, but
only one of the agents also possesses SKILL C, the system might
place a higher preference for the other agents to handle calls
requiring SKILL A and SKILL B. The preference would increase the
chances that the agent having SKILL C will be available when an
incoming call requires SKILL C. The goal of the skills-based
approach is to match each call with the "best" available agent. A
somewhat less efficient skills-based approach is described in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,206,903 to Kohler et al.
There are a variety of techniques for obtaining the information
necessary for determining the skills that are advantageous to
processing a particular call. Automatic number identification (ANI)
passes the telephone number of a calling party through a public
telephone network to the ACD system. This information may be used
to access information regarding the calling party, as determined by
prior communications with the party. This caller-specific
information may be stored within a database lookup table.
Utilization of a dialed number identification service (DNIS) may
also be used to determine call requirements. In a product support
environment, each product may be associated with a different phone
number, so that the product of interest to the caller may be
determined by the dialed number. Interactive voice response (IVR)
may also be utilized. IVR presents messages to the caller, with the
caller being prompted to depress certain buttons on the phone
keypad depending upon call requirements.
There are concerns relating to these techniques for determining
call requirements. For example, if ANI is utilized to access the
calling party's information from a database lookup table
accumulated from prior communications, the calling party will be
misrouted if the subject matter of the call is different than the
subject matter of prior calls. Another concern is that the subject
matter of a call may be outside of the prepared menu and decision
tree of an IVR unit. In many applications, such a situation will
result in the call being routed by default to a human operator.
However, 24-hour information systems typically do not include a
human-operator backup after normal working hours. This leaves the
calling party without options. A third concern is that the known
skills-based routing systems are limited with respect to both the
type of information that can be conveyed to the system by the
caller and the medium for conveying the information.
What is needed is a communications-routing method and system that
increase a party's input to a process for efficiently processing
communication with the party and/or providing information to the
party.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A routing method and system utilize incoming communications having
substantial content freedom to determine the routing process for
responding to the incoming communication. "Content freedom" is
defined as an independence in describing the subject matter that is
of interest to the party submitting the communication. For example,
the incoming communication may be an electronic mail message, a
facsimile transmittal, or a text message originating from a site on
the World Wide Web. The incoming communication may also be a
freeform telephone voice mail message, which would not be
restricted to the dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) responses to
prompts presented in a decision tree of known call routing systems.
In another embodiment, the incoming communication is a video
message, such as a photograph, which is received and content
analyzed for system-recognizable features. The system-recognizable
features are then used as a basis for determining the means for
responding to the communication.
In the preferred embodiment, the routing method and system are used
to selectively distribute communications to individuals of one or
more groups. Resume data indicative of proficiencies of the
individuals with respect to skills advantageous to processing
different types of communications are stored. If the system, such
as an automatic call distribution (ACD) system, includes a number
of distinct groups, the resume data may be identical for each
individual within a particular group. However, the preferred
embodiment individualizes the resume data, so that particular
skills of an individual may be used in determining the "best fit"
of a communication to an individual.
The content of an incoming communication having substantial content
freedom is converted to a program-searchable format. For example, a
received facsimile communication may be converted to
computer-generated text information using an optical character
recognition (OCR) program. Similarly, a voice mail message may be
converted to computer-generated text information using speech
recognition techniques. For electronic mail and Webpage referrals,
formatting the content into a program-searchable format may be
simplified. For example, the header information of an electronic
mail message may simply be stripped from the message. Reformatting
a video message may be accomplished by generator "descriptors,"
such as labels representative of the system-recognizable
features.
A search of the content of a formatted incoming communication is
executed to determine which skills are advantageous to processing
the communication. In one embodiment, the search is a word query of
the computer-generated text information. The word query may be a
Boolean keyword search in which the keywords are linked by logical
operatives such as "AND," "OR" and "NOT" or their functional
equivalents.
At least partially based upon correlations between the stored
resume data of the individuals and the determined skills that are
advantageous to processing the incoming communications, the
incoming communications are routed to the individuals on a
one-by-one basis. The Boolean search may determine that the person
who submitted a communication, such as a voice mail message,
requires an individual who is skilled with respect to a database
program, with respect to speaking Portuguese, and with respect to a
specific computer operating system. The determined call-handling
skills are then used to find a match to the stored resume data of
an individual in order to efficiently process the
communication.
In another embodiment, the routing method is used within an
information distribution system that does not necessarily include
human-to-human contact. An incoming communication having
significant freedom of message content is received from a
submitting party and is converted into a computer-searchable
format. Content analysis of the formatted message is then executed
in order to determine criteria for conveying desired information
responsive to the incoming communication. Based upon the determined
criteria, a connectivity option is selected from among a number of
available connectivity options. A connection with the submitting
party is then established in accordance with the selected
connectivity option. In one application of this embodiment, the
submitting party is a caller to an information distribution system
and the communication is a statement of a concern, issue, or
question. The statement is converted into a computer-searchable
format and is content analyzed to determine the "best fit" within a
menu of information-conveying recordings. In a second exemplary
application, a received facsimile transmission is converted into a
computer-searchable format and is subjected to a Boolean keyword
search to automatically determine which one of a variety of
facsimile options (i.e., connectivity options) should be
transmitted to the submitting party. In a third exemplary
application, the incoming application is a video message in the
form of a photograph that includes an image of a person whose image
was previously stored in a lookup table of the information
distribution system. A label or other descriptor representative of
the person is generated and used to select an appropriate response
to the submitting party.
An advantage of the invention is that the routing method and system
allow significant freedom of selection with respect to both the
medium for establishing the communication with the system (e.g.,
electronic mail, facsimile, Webpage referral, or voice mail) and
the content of the communication. The concern, issue, or question
of a submitting party will not "fall between the cracks" of a
prepared decision tree of an interactive voice response (IVR)
system. Consequently, no human operator is necessary to provide a
backup for the processing system. Moreover, caller frustration
resulting from a long IVR menu is avoided. Another advantage of the
invention is that the communications are less likely to be
misrouted than would be the case if automatic number identification
(ANI) were used to determine anticipated caller needs based upon
prior contacts with the caller.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a routing system that may
be used to implement the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a skills-based router for
use with an automatic call distribution system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a flow chart of steps for routing an incoming
communication in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a multimedia communications
response system of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method performed by the response system
of FIG. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
An information distribution system 10 includes components that
enable the system to distribute communications based upon
correlations between skills advantageous to processing the
communications and a selected connectivity option from among
various connectivity options. In the preferred embodiment, the
information distribution system is an automatic call distribution
(ACD) system. The ACD system routes incoming communications from
customers to agents of a call center, and permits outgoing
communications from the agents to the customers.
Communications between the information distribution system 10 and
remote sites preferably are made in a number of different manners.
A public switched telephone network (PSTN) 12 is shown as being
connected to a facsimile device 14 and a voice input device, such
as a telephone 16. The PSTN is linked to switch circuitry 18 of the
information distribution system 10. While not critical, the switch
circuitry may be circuitry of a private branch exchange (PBX). The
facsimile device 14 and the telephone 16 (or other voice input
device) are user interfaces that enable substantial content freedom
for communications between a submitting party and the information
distribution system 10. As will be explained more fully below, the
freeform communications are converted to an appropriate format for
executing content analysis to determine a routing scheme for the
communications or responses to the communications.
Two additional means of providing substantial content freedom for
communications between a submitting party and the information
distribution system 10 utilize an e-mail provider 20 and an
Internet service provider (ISP) 22. An e-mail message directed to
the information distribution system 10 via the e-mail provider 20
passes through Internet connections 23 to a data gateway 24 of the
system. In its simplest form, the data gateway is a connection to a
dedicated digital line that is leased to the
system. However, this is not critical, since any means of
transmitting an e-mail message to the system may be utilized
without diverting from the invention. A message from the ISP 22 may
be a Webpage referral in the form of electronic mail or may be in
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The freeform message is
transmitted to the system 10 via conventional Internet connectivity
23.
Another means of directing a message having substantial content
freedom is the use of a video device 26. The video device may be a
mechanism for digitally transmitting video information of a
photograph or other still image. Alternatively, the video device
may be a camera for transmitting real-time video information that
is either continually processed at the system 10 or is subject to
frame capture. The video information is conducted to a video switch
28 at the system 10 via a video network 29. The structure of the
video switch is not critical to the invention.
As already noted, each of the components 14, 16, 20, 22 and 26 is a
user interface that allows substantial "content freedom," i.e.,
independence in describing the subject matter that is of interest
to the party submitting a communication. For each of the five user
interfaces, processing occurs at the information distribution
system 10 to allow the content of the message to be analyzed,
accommodating the selection of a means for responding to the
incoming communication based upon content of the message. In FIG.
1, one content analyzer 30 is dedicated to video messages, while a
second content analyzer 32 is employed when a message is received
from one of the other four user interfaces.
Prior to input of a message to the second content analyzer 32, the
incoming communication undergoes some conversion. If the incoming
communication is a facsimile message from the facsimile device 14,
the communication is received at the switch circuitry 18 and
forwarded to a fax-text converter 34. For example, the fax-text
converter may be an optical character recognition (OCR) software
module that converts the facsimile transmittal to
computer-generated text information, such as ASCII characters. This
conversion is a mode-specific conversion, i.e., the processing is
unique to the reception of messages from the facsimile device 14.
On the other hand, processing at a format converter 36 may include
some mode-specific tasks, but preferably the output of the
converter 36 is in a format that is consistent for each of the four
user interfaces 14, 16, 20 and 22 that provides an input to the
format converter. The consistent format of the preferred embodiment
facilitates content analysis at the analyzer 32.
An incoming communication from the voice input device 16, e.g., a
telephone, may be recorded at a conventional voice mail device 38
and converted to text at a voice-text converter 40. The voice-text
converter is a second mode-specific device that provides an input
to the format converter 36. The voice-text converter may be a
speech recognition module that converts the recorded freeform voice
mail message into text information. The format converter then
presents the computer-searchable text information in an appropriate
format to the content analyzer 32. For example, the
content-searchable text information may be ASCII characters.
The format conversion at the converter 36 may be less significant
for electronic mail received from the e-mail provider 20, since the
incoming message is text information. For example, it may only be
necessary to strip a header from the received e-mail message. As
previously noted, the preferred embodiment of the format converter
36 provides a consistent format regardless of the source of a
message.
An incoming communication from the Internet service provider 22 may
be a Webpage referral in the form of e-mail or HTML. Regardless,
the message received via the ISP undergoes format conversion at the
converter 36 to provide computer-searchable text information.
A second content analyzer 32 analyzes the formatted messages from
the converter 36 to identify skills that are advantageous to
processing the messages. The analysis may comprise classification,
semantic analysis and rule-based decision-making with keywords,
phrases and grammar-based parsing. The complexity of the analysis
performed will depend on the requirements of each implementation.
In one embodiment, the analysis includes a word query of the
computer-searchable text information. A Boolean word search may be
used, allowing a number of different keywords to be linked by
logical operatives such as "AND," "OR" and "NOT" or their
functional equivalents. As one example, within an ACD system that
is used for product support for a company that sells both computer
hardware and computer software, generic and proprietary descriptors
may be used as keywords. Additional keywords may be terms common to
frequently asked questions (FAQs) submitted to the company. Another
skill that is advantageous to efficient processing of the incoming
message relates to the medium that is to be used to respond to the
message. If the system 10 is an ACD system, responses that require
an agent to respond via the ISP 22 or the e-mail provider 20 will
require an agent who is knowledgeable with respect to the
particular mode of response.
The content analyzer is typically a content analysis software
module and is understood by persons skilled in the art. Such
software modules are well known for executing Boolean word searches
of computer databases. Nevertheless, other techniques may be
utilized. For example, the voice-text converter 40, the format
converter 36 and the content analyzer 32 may be combined into a
single unit for incoming telephonic communications. A speech
recognition module and content analysis module may be combined in a
keyword search to identify skills that are advantageous to
processing the communication. That is, the conversion to text
information is not critical to all applications, but is
preferred.
Messages from the video device 26 are input to an image analyzer
42. The image analyzer searches the video data for
systemrecognizable features. For example, the image analyzer may
match images of individuals to images stored in a lookup table at
the information distribution system 10. The image analyzer outputs
labels, or other descriptors, that are received at the first
content analyzer 30. The operation of the first content analyzer 30
is similar to the operation described above with reference to the
second content analyzer 32.
For each incoming communication received from one of the user
interfaces 14, 16, 20, 22 and 26, the associated content analyzer
30 and 32 outputs information indicative of the skills that are
advantageous to processing the incoming communication. Referring
now to FIGS. 1 and 2, this information is received at a skills
correlation device 44 of a dynamic skills-based router 46. A second
input to the correlation device 44 is the output from a skills
inventory database 48 that includes resume data indicative of
proficiencies of the agents with respect to various skills
advantageous to processing typical incoming communications. The
correlation device determines a "best fit" between the
communications-handling skills identified at the content analyzer
30 and 32 and the connectivity options available to the system 10.
In the preferred embodiment, the system is an ACD system and the
"best fit" is a determination of the appropriate ACD agent for
handling the communication. At least partially based upon the
resume data contained in the skills inventory database 48 and the
identified communications-handling skills of the content analyzer,
the incoming communications are routed to the agents on a
one-by-one basis.
Typically, the determination of the "best fit" is based upon a
message from only one of said user interfaces 14, 16, 20, 22 and
26. However, in some applications of the information distribution
system 10, more than one mode of message transmission may be
utilized by a submitting party to convey a single concern, question
or issue. For example, an e-mail message requesting information
relating to redesigning a specific item may be transmitted to the
system at approximately the same time as a video transmission
showing the item, the redesign or both. By cross-linking the two
messages, the process of determining the appropriate
communications-handling skills is improved.
In the ACD application of FIG. 2, a number of agent stations 50,
52, 54 and 56 are shown as being connected to the switch circuitry
18 described above. With regard to the incoming communications, the
assignment of ACD agents is based upon the skills correlation
determined at the device 44 and is controlled by a communications
dispatcher 57. In the preferred embodiment, each agent station
supports communications with a number of the user interfaces 14,
16, 20, 22 and 26. For example, each station may include a
telephone and a computer that supports facsimile and electronic
mail transmissions, as well as video transmissions and connectivity
via the Internet.
The dynamic skills-based router 46 is an adjunct component that
controls the distribution of incoming communications to selected
agents at the stations 50-56. The adjunct router is a combination
of computer software and hardware. The device may be physically
implemented in a stand-alone computer that interfaces with the
switch circuitry 18 or may be physically attached to the switch
circuitry. In the preferred embodiment, the router is a separate
component in order to facilitate installation and maintenance of
the adjunct router.
For each ACD agent, a resume is formed and stored at the skills
inventory database 48. A resume is a formal listing of the skills
that an agent possesses. In one embodiment, the resume describes
both the level of ability, i.e. expertise, in each skill and the
level of preference that system management has for the agent to
handle communications that require particular skills versus
communications that require other skills.
In the preferred embodiment, the skills inventory database 48 is
implemented using a relational database model. Therefore, the
database may include several tables of definitions, such as a
skills table, an agents table and a resume-details table.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a process for utilizing the dynamic
skillsbased routing is shown. The process includes the setup steps
58, 60 and 62 that establish the conditions for subsequent incoming
communications. A first step 58 is to generate the skills table. In
one embodiment, the skills table contains a list of all of the
valid values for a "skill" relevant to handling incoming
communications of the ACD system. A "skill" is a job or area of
expertise in which an agent has competence or experience. A "skill"
may be further defined as being unique to an individual or common
to various individuals. This skill commonality may be considered as
creating a "team." For example, a team may be formed by designating
a skill as "sales" and assigning a skill level from 1 to 9, with an
agent having a skill level of 1 being considered a novice and an
agent who has achieved a skill level of 9 being considered a team
leader. However, the creation of teams is not equal to the static
grouping of conventional communications management methods and
systems. Individual agents may be members of any number of teams,
provided the skill code for each team is included in the agent's
resume. The creation of teams by means of the generation of a
skills table allows system management to capture the advantages of
conventional ACD groups, without the limitations of static
grouping.
In step 60, the agents table is generated. This table contains a
list of all of the agents of the ACD system and stores important
data regarding each agent. A ResumeCode field is used to access
agent resumes. Specifically, associated with each agent in the
agents table is a ResumeCode field that can be used as an
identifier of the agent when the agents table is queried to look up
the skills of the particular agent. The resume-details table is
generated at step 62. This table details the identifier of each
skill in order to reference back to the skills table and details
the agents ResumeCode to reference back to the agents table. In
addition, the resume-details table contains skill levels, skill
preferences and excluded flags. A skill level is the level of
knowledge or expertise that a particular agent has achieved in a
given skill. That is, the skill itself is identified in the skills
table generated in step 58 and the rating is identified in the
resume-details table. While not critical, the skill levels may be
ratings on a scale of 1 to 9, with 9 indicating the greatest level
of expertise.
A skill preference is a relative weighting of the system
management's desire to have a particular agent handle incoming
communications requiring a particular skill or relating to a
particular customer. Skill preferences can be used to reserve
uniquely qualified agents for handing communications that require
particular expertise. As an example, the first agent may possess
three skills: SKILL A, SKILL B, and SKILL C. If many other agents
have been well trained to handle transactions requiring SKILL A and
SKILL B, but only the first agent has SKILL C, the system might
place a high preference on SKILL C for the first agent. Thus, only
when no transactions are enqueued requesting SKILL C will the first
agent handle calls requesting SKILL A or SKILL B. Skill preferences
may be rated on a scale of 1 to 9, with 9 indicating the greatest
preference of system management for the agent to handle incoming
communications requiring the skill.
Excluded flags may be identified in the resume-details table to
denote whether or not a particular skill is an "excluded skill" for
a particular agent. Excluded skills are skills in the agent's
resume that the agent is not permitted to handle under any
circumstances. As an example, in a commission-based sales
organization, it may be necessary to restrict certain individuals
from handling a type of communication that requires proper
professional certification.
After the three tables have been formed in steps 58, 60 and 62, the
skills inventory database 48 of FIG. 2 has the information
necessary for skills-based communications routing. This information
is accessible by the skills correlation device 44. In step 64, an
incoming communication is received at the information distribution
system 10 of FIG. 1. The communication is transmitted from one of
the user interfaces 14, 16, 20, 22 and 26 or from another device
that allows substantial content freedom. The content of the message
is converted to a computer-searchable format at step 66. The
conversion takes place at the video image analyzer 42 or the format
converter 36 of FIG. 1, as described above. Optionally, the
incoming communication may be a combination of two transmissions
from two different user interfaces, such as a voice message from
the voice input device 16 and a video transmission from the video
device 26. The two transmissions are crosslinked at the system 10
and used in combination to determine which communications-handling
skills are relevant.
The formatted content is searched at the appropriate content
analyzer 30 or 32. Step 68 of FIG. 3 is a step of identifying
communications-handling skills. In one embodiment, a skill
expression is generated, as shown at step 70. Each incoming
communication is associated with a skill expression. The "skill
expression" is a simple formalism for stating the skills that are
required or advantageous to processing the associated
communication. As an example, the skill expression may be DATABASE,
5 AND INPUT, 5 AND E-MAIL 7. This expresses a requirement for an
agent with at least a "5" level of expertise in a database program,
who also has at least a "5" level of expertise in data input, and
who has at least a "7" level of expertise with respect to
responding to communications via electronic mail. In addition to
the "AND" operator, "OR" and "NOT" logical operators may be
utilized in a skill expression, or characters may be substituted
for the three logical operators.
Skill expressions may also allow a designation of
communications-handling skills as being "mandatory" or "optional."
A mandatory skill is a skill that is required for an agent to
process the particular communication. An optional skill is a skill
that system management would prefer an agent to possess for
handling the communication, but which is not critical to successful
processing of the communication.
In step 72, the communications-handling skills identified in step
68 are correlated with the resume data of the skills inventory
database 48 in order to find a "best fit" of skills. In one
implementation of this step, a "skills score" is calculated. A
skills score is indicative of the correlation between the
attributes of the agents and the desired abilities for handling a
particular communication. That is, the skills score is a numeric
measure of how well a particular agent's resume data match the
skill expression associated with the communication. The closer that
the skills score is to 0, the better the match in terms of the
goals of system
management. A positive skills score indicates an over-qualified
agent, while a negative skills score indicates an under-qualified
agent. Optionally, there is a preference to utilize over-qualified
agents over under-qualified agents. This can be ensured by applying
a penalty factor if a skills score is negative. For example, a
negative skills score can be penalized by multiplying the score by
a penalty factor of -1000. Since the "best fit" is determined by
identifying the skills score that is closest to 0, the penalty
factor will effectively eliminate routing to under-qualified agents
if an over-qualified agent is available.
In step 74, connectivity is established based upon the skills
correlation of step 72. The implementation of step 74 will be
according to the business purpose of the information distribution
system 10 and the mode of the incoming communication. If the
incoming communication is from one of the facsimile device 14, the
e-mail provider 20, or the ISP 22, the connectivity may merely be a
transmittal of information of the submitting party's concern, issue
or question, with instructions as to the mode for responding to the
submitting party. The mode may be identical to the mode selected by
the submitting party (e.g., a facsimile transmittal, an e-mail
message, or a post on a Webpage). Alternatively, the responding
mode may be different than the original mode, such as an
agent-to-customer telephone call in response to received electronic
mail or video message.
If the incoming communication is a telephone call in which the
submitting party identified a concern, issue or question in a
freeform voice mail message and remained in a call queue, the
connectivity established at step 74 may route the call immediately
to the selected agent. On the other hand, if the voice mail message
was recorded and the submitting party terminated the call, the
connectivity may be one in which the concern, issue or question is
submitted to the selected agent with instructions as to the mode
for responding to the communication. As another alternative, a
customer of an ACD system initiates a call and inputs a voice
message at the voice mail device 38 of FIG. 1, but remains on-line.
The customer is on call "hold" while the routing decisions of FIG.
3 are implemented. If the ACD agent or other connectivity option
selected by the dynamic skills-based router 46 is presently
unavailable, the system may schedule a call-back to the customer.
This may include an automated identification of the scheduled
call-back to the customer, with a voice prompt requesting the
customer to approve or disapprove the connectivity option.
In addition to connectivity, the information distribution system
may determine tasks that are submitted to an ACD agent in addition
to the received message. Such a task may be instructions as to the
handling of a return telephone call to a customer. Other
information can also be routed to the agent of interest. The source
of the information may be a stored database that is accessed based
upon determination of the customer's name, account number or the
like. For a video message, the access may be automatically
implemented upon recognition of a particular image, such as the
image of the customer.
In the preferred embodiment, the adjunct router 46 of FIG. 2
includes a report-generating component 76. The use of this
component with the skills inventory database facilitates
evaluations of the quality of service of the system. In the
preferred embodiment, agent summary reports, skills summary
reports, and match analysis reports are generated. An agent summary
report relates to and is organized according to activity of
particular individuals. This report covers all skill expressions
for communications handled by the particular individual. The report
is categorized by selected agents. The skills summary report is
related to skill expressions. This report lists all agents who were
on-duty in a time period in which an incoming communication having
a particular skill expression was handled by one of the agents. The
report is categorized by skill expressions. The match analysis
report is related to identified agent abilities advantageous to
processing incoming communications. The match analysis report is
similar to the skills summary report, but does not provide the
breakdown on a per agent basis. The report may indicate the skill
expressions that are being requested most often, and may indicate
the level of service provided for each skill expression.
While the method and system have been described primarily with
reference to an ACD system having available agents, this is not
critical. The method may be utilized in other information
distribution systems. For example, a freeform telephone voice mail
message may be converted to a computer-searchable format that is
content analyzed to identify the communications-handling skills
that are "best fit" to one of a number of different connectivity
options, such as one information-conveying recording within a
selection of different information-conveying recordings. Similarly,
the content analysis of a message received from the facsimile
device 14, the e-mail provider 20, or the ISP 22 may automatically
trigger a responsive return transmittal to the submitting party. In
one such application, a received facsimile transmission is
converted into a computer-searchable format and is subjected to a
Boolean keyword search to automatically determine which one of a
variety of facsimile options (i.e., connectivity options) should be
transmitted to the submitting party.
FIG. 4 illustrates a more general block diagram of a multimedia
communication response system 100 of the present invention. The
response system 100 receives freeform communications from one or
more of a variety of sources, in one or more of a variety of
medium. For example, the communication may be a video clip, a
photographic image, an E-Mail message, a facsimile, a voice message
or real time voice, or an Internet form or other communication
received from the World Wide Web. A multimedia switch 104 controls
the routing of the incoming communications. The response system 100
also comprises a multimedia messaging unit 102, which may be used
to store communications of various media. For example, the
messaging unit 102 may store an incoming facsimile communication
until the response system 100 is prepared to process the
communication. Thus, the switch 104 may route incoming
communications directly to a media converter 106, or it may route
the incoming communications to the messaging unit 102 for storage.
At some later time, the switch 104 can retrieve the stored
communications from the messaging unit 102 and forward the
communications to the media converter 106. Alternatively, the media
converter 106 can access the stored communications directly from
the messaging unit 102.
The media converter 106 preferably converts each incoming
communication to a common medium. The media converter 106 may also
modify the format of the communication. Preferably, the resulting
medium and format can be readily processed by a computer. For
example, the media converter 106 may generate an ASCII
communication having a predefined format, where the converted
communication has generally the same informational content as the
incoming communication, at least for the purposes of the response
system 100. As described previously, the particular conversion
performed by the media converter 106 depends on the medium and
format of the received communication. For example, if the received
communication is a facsimile communication, the conversion may
involve an OCR process.
The media converter 106 sends the converted communication to a
content analyzer 108. The content analyzer 108 performs certain
operations to extract relevant information from the freeform
communication. The relevant information may include information
about the substance and format of a desired response, information
about the identity of the sender of the original communication and
information about a particular time at which the sender would like
to receive a response. The particular operations performed to
extract this information depend on the particular implementation.
For example, the scope of the content analysis may depend on the
possible types of responses that can be provided. If there are
relatively few possible responses that can be provided, then a
simple keyword search may suffice to determine which possible
response provides a best fit for the content of the communication.
On the other hand, if the possible routes for the communication
and/or the possible responses are numerous, a more complex content
analyzer 108 may be required. A more complex content analyzer 108
could implement classification, semantic analysis and rule-based
decision-making with keywords, phrases and grammar-based parsing.
Various of these techniques are known in the art.
The content analyzer 108 sends relevant information extracted from
the communication to the content-based router 110. The
content-based router 110 compares the information extracted from
the communication with information about the possible responses or
connectivity options available in the response system 100. The
router 110 activates the connectivity option that provides the best
fit with the content of the communication, so that the connectivity
option provides a response. In some embodiments, the router 110 may
pass the information that was extracted from the communication to
the selected connectivity option to facilitate a more efficient and
effective response. In other embodiments, forwarding the extracted
information may not be necessary. The response unit 112 contains
the connectivity options that actually provide the responses to the
incoming communications, based on information or instructions
received from the router 110.
In the preferred embodiment described above, the content-based
router 110 comprises a skills based ACD router 46 and the response
unit 112 comprises a number of agents 50, 52, 54 and 56, where the
router 110 selects an agent 50-56 to respond to an incoming
communication. In another embodiment, the router 110 may determine
an appropriate document or other set of information that can be
sent in response to the incoming communication. In this embodiment,
the response unit 112 may comprise a database of documents or other
information and one or more communication units for sending the
selected information to an appropriate destination. Various other
embodiments of the present invention are also possible. For
example, the response unit 112 may comprise a combination of one or
more of the following: human agents that are able to respond in
real time to an incoming communication, human agents that are able
to respond to an incoming communication after some delay,
communication units that are able to automatically respond to an
incoming communication by transmitting stored information, software
agents that are able to actively seek out information that can be
transmitted in response to the incoming communication and expert
systems that can automatically analyze provided information and
provide an intelligent response. The forms of response can vary as
well. For example, a response can take the form of a real time
telephone conversation, a call back at some later time (possibly
specified by user in communication), a facsimile transmission, an
E-Mail message, a pre-recorded voice message, a video clip or other
visual information, an Internet or other online download, or even a
printed document by postal service. The response could also involve
the provision of commercial products and services. For example, a
response to a communication could include sending the user an
ordered product, billing a user for an ordered product, modifying a
database containing information about the user and modifying the
parameters of a service provided to the user. In addition, more
than one type of response could be provided for a single incoming
communication. For example, a response may include sending the user
a document by facsimile and calling the user back after waiting a
sufficient amount of time to allow the user to receive and review
the facsimile.
The router 110 can preferably route a communication to any
connectivity option that is available in the response unit 112. For
example, some communications may lead to a real time response by an
agent in a call center, while other communications may lead to a
delayed transmission of information via E-Mail. A user of the
response unit 100 can preferably request a particular type of
response. For example, the user may place a telephone call to the
response unit 100 and request that certain information be sent to
the user by facsimile at a specified facsimile number. The content
analyzer detects the substance of this request and informs the
router 110. Even if a call center agent is available, the router
110 will determine information within the response unit 112 that
provides the best fit with the criteria specified by the user, and
the router 110 will instruct the response unit 112 to transmit the
information to the user by facsimile.
FIG. 5 illustrates a method performed by the response system 100 of
FIG. 4. The method begins at an initial step 200. At a process
block 202, the system receives an incoming freeform communication.
At a decision block 204, the system determines whether the incoming
communication is in a medium and format that is suitable for
content analysis. If not, the media converter 106 converts the
communication to a suitable medium and format at a process block
206. At a process block 208, the content analyzer 108 analyzes the
converted communication for information that is relevant to a
response, such as the type of response required, to whom and in
what medium the response should be sent, and a desired time for the
response. At a process block 210, the content-based router 110 uses
the information obtained by the content analyzer 108 to route the
communication to the connectivity option that provides the best
fit. At a process block 212, the response unit 112 responds to the
communication in an appropriate manner. The process of FIG. 5 ends
at a terminal block 214.
* * * * *